She Stole HIS Heart!

Every year, Darren presents Lilah with a special gift from Daddy.  It wasn't until this year that she actually started recalling the tradition and around February 3rd, she began asking... "Is Daddy going to get me a special surprise like he did last year?" Hearing Darren talk to Lilah and watching him engage with her is so beautiful.  I never really knew how much I loved Darren until I saw how much he loves Lilah. #meltmyheart It's what every daughter, young and old, craves! I am very thankful for this tradition and eventually, as Lilah gets older and has giving thoughts, as well as, money of her own, I can foresee it being a special exchange between the both of them.  For now, it's just Darren who gives.  I MUST share with you this year's gift from father to daughter.

We gave the kids their Valentine's gifts and NO ONE mentioned Darren/Lilah's exchange.  I guess the kids felt blessed enough and forgot about the sweet tradition.  About 2 minutes after the kids received their gifts, Darren said, "Lilah, I have a special surprise for you! Close your eyes." As you can see above and below, Lilah held her eyes tightly and patiently waited for Darren to tell her to open them.

Darren grabbed his unwrapped gifts. Looking back, I like that idea anyway because her reaction is PRICELESS, due to the fact that the gifts were VISIBLE to the naked eye!

 Patiently waiting!

"Okay, you can open your eyes now!" I could NOT have planned a better reaction. I LOVE having a little girl and this is ONE BIG reason WHY! She gets so giddy over details and special moments.  

 I don't think I need to say it.  Her facial expressions tell the story of her appreciation.  She was so excited and very, very appreciative.

 Then daddy gently kissed his baby girl as she squeezed her hippo tightly.  

A few weeks ago, after a lunch date together, we stopped in a Hallmark and Walgreens.  It's always fun watching him shop for Liley.  I had to put my phone on silent to take these photos. Darren caught me taking ONE in the stuffed animal section and said, "Delete it!" LOL! Little does he know I got two others.

What did Darren give to her?

Well, a little birdie told him that she's been begging for a box of chocolate.  EVERY TIME we went to the store, she would beg and beg and I kept saying "No!" Darren and I agreed that the cheesiest box of chocolate would be the COOLEST box of chocolate to her, so he chose the box that had a rose on top! He also got her the "Hug Loving Hippo" from Hallmark.  She sings, "Baby's Got Back!" But instead, the lyrics are re-written and the hippo starts off singing, "I like BIG Hugs!" I inserted a youtube video of this plush toy, below, in action.

And finally, Darren got Lilah a new Oragami charm!

It was delivered in this sweet box!

Liley had a fantastic Valentine's Day! She's been carrying her hippo around everywhere.

Darren loved the photos I captured, so he put them on Instagram.  I love what he wrote, "So there's this girl, she stole my heart, she calls me dad!"

I will leave you with this thought: "A daughter needs a dad to be the standard against which she will judge all men!" If you're a dad or a future dad, be the type of man you would want your daughter to be with.